If you’re ever in need of some inspiration, documentaries can be a good place to find some. Art and artist documentaries often carry the weight of the inspiration that inspired those artists and their works.
And so here are five I’ve recently watched that may be worth your time if you’re in need of a little inspiration.
Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel
In a little less than one hour (52 minutes), you can learn about one of the true original artists, Hans Zimmer, and how he does what he does. For fans of music, movies, rebels, storytelling, and innovation, this movie hits all the right chords.
Butterfly In The Sky
This great documentary about Reading Rainbow shows you the people and highlights the stories and passion behind this beloved children’s program. It also includes what would have been a viral speech (made before we named things as viral) in the passionate words about funding public broadcasting from Levar Burton’s testimony in Washington.
Jim Henson Idea Man
This Jim Henson biopic is a triumph of his spirit and all he accomplished, yet it is also a lament for the man who left us all too soon. This Ron Howard-helmed documentary feels more Henson than Howard as another tribute to the man who gave more than most, and still had much more to give.
BRATS
This documentary by Andrew McCarthy based on a book he wrote about the Brat Pack of the 1980s is a very interesting look at the reaction to being included or excluded in the media grouping. It includes concrete examples about the power of grouping and labeling. It also examines how perspective can impact how that label is perceived as either negative or positive, as well as how time can evolve that perspective.
Hate to Love: Nickelback
“How to Embrace Yourself in the Face of Overwhelming Adversity” could be the subtitle of this Nickelback documentary. And I’ll go a step further… It had to happen to someone. A band of that time, at the nexus of the way things were, amid the early rise of social media, and with massive success, would have eventually become hated. This documentary makes me feel some sense of relief that it was a few boys from Alberta, Canada, who could actually handle and get through all of it.
If you’re feeling down, left staring at a blank page or empty canvas, or if you don’t have the inspiration to complete the next project on your list, any of these documentaries may kickstart some of that creativity. Happy watching.